Ugly’s not a strong enough word

If you’ve watched hockey seasons at all … in other words, if this isn’t your first season as a fan … then you should know this. Losing streaks sometimes start with poorly-played victories. The Rangers had won seven in a row, but the last three were nowhere near complete-game wins, and if you analyze each, they got worse. The bad play stretched and extended over longer periods of time in each. Then comes 7-3. It really ought to not be a surprise.

Likewise, sometimes a team will play better as it starts to come out of a tailspin. Maybe this one miserable loss will turn into two or three. But it also could be the best thing to happen that the next opponent is the Devils at home. Because it forces the Rangers to fix it quickly.

I was waiting for the official post-game notes and quotes, but never got them.

Some thoughts:

1) Starting Valiquette. I know a lot of you have a problem with that. But starting him at home against San Jose isn’t like starting him at Pittsburgh or at Detroit. If he can’t handle San Jose at home, then he can’t be the backup goalie, because Lundqvist has to have some games off … and what if Lundqvist ever got hurt? What if he had to miss a week down the stretch with the playoffs on the line? What if he had to miss a playoff game or two? Well, if Valiquette can’t handle the Sharks at home in October, how the heck should he be expected to handle those situations? You have to let him play some meaningful games, or get somebody else. Period.

2) All six defensemen stunk. Stunk to high heaven. I think five of the goals were scored from 10 feet and in, and each time nobody was put on his fanny, and on a few of them it was 2-on-1 down low, with the other defenseman nowhere in the picture. It’s easy to always blame Rozsival, but the Calder Trophy kid and everybody else, including Staal and Girardi, were dreadful.

3) The turnovers. My goodness. I know they want to be aggressive and take chances, but not reckless and careless. And that goes quadruple for the fourth line. If anybody should play it relatively safe, it has to be those guys in their limited minutes and with their limited ability. Donald Brashear? Horrible. Only Valiquette, and maybe Joe Girardi and Alfredo Aceves, had a worse night.

4) Do the Versus clowns think that we’re watching Versus because it’s Versus, or because that’s only place we can see the game? Because every time they say Versus, the more I promise I won’t watch Versus unless I absolutely have to. Their play-by-play guy makes Chip Carey sound like Vin Scully. And how does MSG Network not have some sort of postgame presence for a home game?

Actually you start Vally against the Leafs on Saturday given his track record against the Leafs and have Lundqvist against the Sharks.
Unlike the Leafs the Sharks are a talented team so why are you going with the second string to begin with? Forget the Shark record they are considered one of the favorites to win the Western Conference.
So you play your best goalie against the worst team in the NHL and your backup against a real team. Sorry Rick but this one actually should be blamed on Tortorella for the choices he made.
Vally beating one of the top teams in the NHL home or away would be more a fluke than expected. A smart coach plays his best against the best

btw i almost ended up in a hospital with internal skull bleeding… yup, i had the Beninati syndrome! What a freaking tool this guy is… unreal.

here are some quotes in SUCCESSION:

“Redden hoist it off the rink behind the cage trying to tuck it to the slot to a teammate with operating room.. he hammers it and Nabokov shrugs it away! Half way through the opening frame…. Nabokov calling for his charges to come get it… Girardi keeps it hot in offensive zone for New York. Its quick moving with NHL on Versus. Sharks score four tallies in a row with some sauce on it. The puck goes off the net-minder shoulder who is spelling for Henrik Lundqvist…. Dubinsky with one touch pass to the interior …and he drops a hammer! This has been another sizzzzler with Joe Beninati!”

I mentioned this in the other thread, but yes, we haven’t been playing well leading up to this game. If you look at the Kings game, even though we won, they really exposed our inability to handle an aggressive forecheck. Our guys seem to panic and just sling the puck up the boards… not many good breakout passes from our own end into the neutral zone.

Vally looked awful tonight, but I agree with you Carp – way too many shots from 10-15 feet out, and there were a few goals scored on goal mouth put backs. The D didn’t do their job this game.

I didn’t think Del Zotto was dreadful – he seems to have the most poise coming out of his own end with the puck. His head is up, his legs are moving, and he’s making REALLY GOOD passes to spring guys. Of course he’s going to take his lumps, but so far I feel like he is better than advertised.

I’d rather they get this clunker out of the way against a non-conference opponent and wax the devils thursday night. Of course, that has nothing to do with the tickets I have for thursday… :)

wholly cow, had to watch on the internet, game was indeed bad! If i have not said it before here, we really need a crease clearing d man (actually we need 2, but I would be happy with one for now)!!!!! Whole team looked pretty bad!

I understand why torts started valli, to focus the team more because of their recent play and not having hank back there should…SHOULD….make them focus more. On a side note I like valli ok, but don’t think he is the right back-up here (i’ve said it before, a guy like hedberg would be a much better back up for us).

Lastly, tonight is an example (along with the running of hank recently) of the one big difference of torts and keenan or campbell. All of them were/are tough love coaches, but keenan and campbell would have specifically sent a message to players towards the end of a game like this (or running hank) gloves get dropped and you take the body HARD the rest of the way even if we lose the game, the other team will KNOW they played the rangers!!!

So, we rag Chris Drury, and we rag Michal Blowsival, and we rag Wade Redden, and we rag Markus Naslund, and we rag Nikolai Zherdev, and we rag Donald Brashear, and we rag Aaron Voros, and we rag Boyle, and we rag Lisin, you all get the point…

WHY DOES HIGGINS NEVER GET ANYTHING?!??!?

Not only has he not put a puck in the net, but he has just plain stunk every game so far. Complain all you want about Brashear and his lack of fighting(which btw, was aweful). But we need Higgins to put the puck in the net.

Went tonight but hardly paid attention. Too preoccupied with the Yankees and some of the worst ever postseason managing. The Rangers got what was coming. Hopefully, it will open eyes and make them realize what must get corrected for Thursday.

Rangers might not have played a complete games but helping things out by starting your backup goaltender is really stupid. This game was televised on versus. San Jose is a high scoring team with big forwards. They really came to play and Rangers start their backup goaltender like this game does not mean anything to them. That is how the whole team took it, that this game is not important. Too bad they blew it to make it eight in a row.

prospect, i disagree. if he’d started in Toronto and lost, you guys would have really been ticked off. You have to find out about this guy, and beating the Leaves or the Islanders doesn’t tell you anything. are you going to blame Tortorella every time Valiquette loses? and are you going to blame him if Lundqvist plays 72 games and Olympics and loses in the first round?

Derek, I thought he mismanaged the 13-inning game Saturday just as badly, assuming you’re talking about the bullpen.

Izzy, by “go time” I meant going to bed. You and your macho headgames.

Valli isn’t Lundqvist, but he sure didn’t get much help tonight. It’s not how did we lose so bad tonight, but how did the Rangers win seven straight, playing the way they did? I’m getting the same feeling I got when the Washington series turned on us.

As for Versus; I watch Versus- I listen to rock music. After 40 years of watching hockey these guys aren’t telling me anything new about the game that I can’t see for myself. If they are that bad, tune ’em out.

The thing is we don’t know why Valliquette was chosen. You’re assuming Lundqvist was totally ready to go. Who knows maybe torts had every intention of having him play both teams, but decided last minute not to. Either Lundqvist or Torts felt he needed a breather because getting run over all those times probably took their toll on him.

I’d rather play it safe with him, if thats the case. We’ll need him down the road at 100%.

Like you guys all said, Vally was awful tonight but he really had no support on most of the goals. Girardi and Staal literally let Heatley walk right through them for their second goal as a prime example. Also, the Refs seemed to be very selective when putting away the whistle tonight (the trip on Callahan, the x-check on Avery just to name a few)

It was a disgusting game to watch, but at least I didn’t have to hear that dimwit call Benninati the game

I was at the game and they flat out sucked tonight. I spent alittle over 200 bucks for my ticket and spent about 60 on drinks. I wanted to demand a refund!

The defense looked really, really bad. MDZ was guilty of losing the puck a few times. No puck control and forget about passing the puck or hitting the net. Vally let in some softies, there were too many turnovers and one penalty after another.

I agree Carp, the writing was on the wall a few games ago. This team needs to start playing 60 minutes of agressive hockey and not just show up at different times of the game.

Vally is to the Rangers what Mark Sanchez was to the Jets Yesterday. Just didn’t get it done. Too many rebounds & probably should of stopped the first goal. The entire team took the night off. Better now than thurs.

i think Carp was right aboot Vally… He’s had his share of “safe” games vs. Toronto, Islanders and other dead beat teams… everyone talks aboot Vally being legit backup and all…tonight was his chance to prove it, especially with two goals lead early on… but it didnt happen.

Haha this was a great post. I couldn’t agree more on the four aspects of this game that were just brutal to watch. These games happen though, just need to hope for a better showing on Thursday. Made a post about versus a while back if anyone is in the same boat:

Back down to earth with a big f***ing bump!!
We were sloppy in all aspects of the game, we didn’t take the body, we turned over the puck. Hopefully this will give them a wake up call, we got a couple of lucky wins that make us look better than we are, 8-2 could easily be 6-4 or 5-3.

I won’t get down on this team when we only have two losses. Yes, our season has been pretty easy thus far, and aside from the Pens, we have not played the strongest opponents. This a good reality check, and since it comes against a non-conference opponent, it is probably the third best loss we can take (the second being a loss while visiting San Jose, the best loss being one in OT).

Once again though, our major deficiency was highlighted by our lack of physical presence. Are our guys afraid to hit now? When the season opened up, we would actually pressure and use the body. Hell, even Redden had a few good hits earlier in the season! Now we are getting caught watching the puck and shying away from hits. Could this be because we are afraid of taking even more penalties?

Little early to start complaining about the officiating, but it has not been very consistent. The cross checks last night that were not called by the officials made me laugh, just as all of the goalie interference calls which go ignored when the Leafs ran Hank.

But I’d rather they take a few penalties actually taking the body and bring a physical presence than sit back. I can go down to a local High School game and see more hitting and physical play.

If we keep playing like this, we will be steamrolled. Hockey is a physical sport. We have to step it up.

It was inevitable. 7-2-0, and guys are ready to jump off a bridge. I like Torts putting Vally in against a strong team. Now he knows how good Vally is(n’t). In a salary capped league, every team is gonna have flaws, and every other team is gonna exploit them. The Ranger D is soft, and 3 games into the season every other NHL team knows it.

I think Higgins will come around. I am concerned about the defense. I don’t see how the Rangers can make any changes, but I will take 7-2-0. . . . . for now.

The Devils, Caps, Kings and Ducks are not the “strongest opponents?” I can’t agree with that statement. Those are good teams. The Leafs, though not good this year, were hungry and came after it. NYR has not had any lucky wins. No wins in the NHL are lucky, you still have to beat the team on the ice, and NYR is outscoring opponents dramatically.

Before everyone sells this team down the river keep in mind no team has ever gone 82-0. There will be losses, lapses and embarassments. It’s a long season and sometiems there needs to be wake-up calls, adjustments and changes. But before we start saying their start was lucky, let’s give credit where credit is due.

The good news is that on a lot of the goals the Rangers weren’t “out-skilled” but rather out-hustled. Hustle is something you can hopefully correct whereas we saw what happpened last year when you severely lack the skill to compete.

The Sharks seemed to have an extra man up on the rush and back in their zone. Their hitting stepped up after they tied the game and then they pushed hard to the net, basically good old fashioned hard work to create chances.

Now as bad as the D was as a whole, I’ve run my rope’s length with Rozi. I have never seen someone literally skate into turnovers as often as he does. He handcuffs his headman on outlet passes and softly moves the puck to his D partner behind the net or in the transition game where D to D passes open up one side of the ice. MDZ did cough it up a few times but a lot of that was due to Rozi’s timid play that pins the Rangers in their own end too often.

Oh and the 4th line, brutally over exposed at least Brashear and Boyle. I’m not sure what Brashear was trying to prove with an aggressive forecheck but if you backcheck as slowly as he does then you have no business rushing past the face off circles or trying to overload one side of the ice by abandoning your wing.

I think the quick 2 goals took the edge off the Rangers game, ironically enough. They thought it was going to be a Sunday skate after that but what they’ll get today and tomorrow at practice should make up for that.

I also had to watch that atrocity of a broadcast system VS on internet, and they are really poor handlers of a hockey game. Let them stay with soccer. NHL really did a
disservice to themselves by giving this bunch 40 games.

I noticed for the first time I think, just how slow footed Valiquette is. I thought he should have had all four of the first four goals.

And you are all so right about Higgins.
at least avoid the cheap penalities. That really killed them.

Now you know how far Rangers have to go to enter the elite of the league.

in my opinion, there’s no point in saying things like “the loss is on torts for starting vally,” cuz i was at the game and it would have been the same outcome even if henrik had started. after the two quick goals we scored in the 1st period, the entire team decided to stop playing. the goals san jose scored all seemed like legit goals to me, ones that you can’t just blame vally for. sure, put henrik in there and maybe 1 or 2, at most 3 of them become awesome saves opposed to goals against. but the end result would have been a loss nonetheless.

the team needed a loss like this though, an embarassing loss to bring them back to reality. yes, they are a good competant team this year, but they have a lot of work to do still in order to become a great team. hopefully this loss brings them down a peg or two because I do believe they started believing they were better than they really are, and simply stopped working as hard as they were at the beginning of the season. against a non-conference team, i’ll take that loss if it turns into a chance to regain that hard work and consistancy which resulted in the early season successes. and with a rivalry game against the devils as the next game, there is a chance for a real quick turn around. then again there is a chance for things to turn into an ugly losing streak too.

Ouch
I think at around 12 min in the second, Tort should have replaced Valley. There were 4 unanswered goals. Back seat coaching.
How many goals did the 4th line give up?
Gabby didn’t do jack.
Ref’s sucked.
Giants sucked.
My son said the Rangers looked slow.

God how I hate Versus. They could have at least had Doc Emrick call the game. Beninati is unlistenable! He was great when he did AHL games and you’d get clips from him on that old AHL show that SportsChannel had (at least I think it was Sportschannel). I used to get a big kick out of his voice back then.

However, now that troll’s voice is like scratching your fingernails on a blackboard. For crying out loud, I would rather see the NHL bring back Fox with that stupid glowing puck than have to watch Versus clkutter the screen up with inane ads for shows no one is ever going to watch.

the game last night reminded me of what we were talking about in the summer. where we would score more, but get more goals cored on us. so far hank has been the major difference in preventing that. our d havent looked real good except for 2 or 3 games. redden, while playing better, is still pretty bad. rozuy is even worse than redden from last year, and staal and girardi are not good enough offensively to pinch and try to score goals or create plays like that. theyre a shutdown pair and theyre getting too much put on their plate. why are del zotto and gilroy here? they are offensive guys. if staal never scored another goal again, but played great defensively and took the body hard, i would be happy. his extra 2 or 3 goals that he might get this season playing this way is not a good enough trade off for lacking in his d zone play. same with giradri.gilroy needs somebody better than redden on his line if hes gonna join the rush. redden is too slow to get back and sooner or later both are gonna be huge minus players. torts has to realize that yea, ok id like to see staal and girardi and redden score more, but they gotta worry about defense first. let higgins try to score more., he, drury, cally, AA, and boyle all need to be doin more scoring right now. not staal and girardi.

Wow guys. 1 loss in 8 games and this board seems like it’s going to cry.

CARP..seriously? I’m surprised you would be so quick to call out Vally as a questionable player after this game. Did he play well? No he didnt. But for someone who covers this sport so regularly, you should know that 1 game doesn’t define a player. Vally has played Philadelphia, Washington, Carolina, & Anaheim and has played well against all of them. He loses a bad game with little help against a Stanley Cup favorite this year and he’s suddenly not worthy of being a backup?? I know you didnt flat out say it but that’s what you’re implying. And it’s surprising. I expected some ignorant fans to be ready to jump ship on Vally because they have a “what have you done for me lately” mentality. But this isn’t Vally’s first foray into upper tier teams and it isnt his last, so why are we judging this game as if he’s never played anyone good before? Players have bad games, teams have bad games. This is still a good team and Vally is still a good backup. How do I know that? Because I’m looking at the entire body of work and not just 1 game. As should many of you guys.

I am not going to get all up and arms yet. It was obvious to me even before last night’s game, that if we played like that, we were going to get blown out. I know this team is much better than what was defecated all over the ice last night. I think part of us all knew though, that this is a better team, with better players, than we have had in a very long time. But I also think we all knew that we are not the best team in the league. Torts said that this team is not run and gun, and maybe they aren’t, but it sure looked like, for stretches last night, that we tried to play run and gun with a team that is probably better, run and gun, that we are. Bad move. I know he wants puck pressure, but you have to be able to adapt to games and teams. You can not play the same style against every team and expect to win. We didn’t try to change anything last night, and we got burnt worse than a piece of grizzle that falls of a steak at Uncle John’s summer BBQ.
We have things to work on, and I don’t know who else said it, but a game against the Devils for our next game, is the best thing for this team.

bull dog line – You are exactly what I’m talking about. Vally has a bad game with little help and he’s suddenly not worthy of being in the NHL. Pathetic. Have some backbone and look at the big picture.

Carp, Great post and I agree 100%. Some earlier posts hit on the penalties the Rangers are taking and they also are 100% correct. Why is it happening, where is the accountability? (even before last nights game)

Puck, I dont think Carp’s calling out Valli as much as he’s calling out the crybabies who wanted King to start. You gotta find out just what Valli’s about. If we hustled/played better defense, the score would have been a lot closer.

Valli is a good back up. The only problem with him is that he is way too easily rattled. You can see this from the games he has played and plain as day. He is either AWESOME, or he shits the bed. There is no middle ground with him. It seems that when he lets in one soft goal, usually the first of the game for him, he just falls apart. We saw it in Toronto last year, and again last night. Just plain ugly. When he is on, he is great. I don’t know what that says, and I am not saying that all the goals were his fault last night, but he definitely wasn’t on his A game. Not even close. We would have been better off with a net tutor in there last night.

Some will argue that you have to have a short memory when you lose a game like that. I don’t know if I always agree with that. I think you have to forget about the loss, but not forget about why you lost. We absolutely can NOT go out and give another effort like that again. It simply just can’t happen.

Carp, thanks for the thorough summary. I worked and missed the game but you’ve answered any questions that I may have had. I expected to see a loss when I got home. They haven’t played great, in the last few games, but still won. No time to panic, I’m sure Torts will use the loss as motivation. The wins have kept the defense off of the hot seat. I’m not going to jump on them after one loss, even though I’ve killed Rozi. MDZ and Gilroy aren’t the strongest in their own corners, Girardi and Staal haven’t blown anybody away and Rozi and Redden are….Rozi and Redden. But, I have confidence in Tortorella to have everybody ready for the Devils.

Is valley at fault? yes. Is torts at fault? yes. Is our soft d at fault? yes. Get where im going with this? hockey is a team sport and this was a team effort at LOSING. I was furious last night was ready to explode but i think this was a blessing in disguise and what we need to get our heads out of our asses. We need to start taking the body and making better passes. Sather NEEDS to get a crease clearer if this team wants to make it past the 1st round of the playoffs. The scoring will come to those lacking, give it more then 9 games.

I said yesterday that to win against San Jose, it was about battle level. Did the Rangers match the level of San Jose? For only about 10 minutes so no. Did Vally? No. Could they? Yes. Could they match for full game?

This was a good test. Teams sometimes need to be humbled. Look, there off to a solid start. One loss dosen’t change that. The good news is that this team is way better than they played last night.

Joekuh – But why do the fans NOT know what Vally is about yet? He’s been our backup for the last 3 years. He’s played lower level teams, mid level and high level. He’s played home games, away games, important games, mop up duty games, back to back starts..etc..

And you know what? He’s played very well in a nut shell. I challenge anyone to disagree with that simple statement. The problem is, people expect Vezina caliber goaltending from Vally EVERY night because of what were accustomed to getting with Lundqvist. It’s greed and it’s unrealistic. 90% of the teams in this league dont have Lundqvist’s level of goaltending yet we expect to have 2 guys on that level. It’s just not going to happen. But when you look at Vally’s career #’s and compare them to every other backup in this league, he’ll compare favorably. He has the occasional stinker just like every one else..it shouldnt negate his solid goaltending the majority of the time.

Good morning. And hopefully a wake up call.
Good post, Carp.
Valiquette is still an excellent back up, everyone is entitled to some mistakes. But why wasn’t he pulled after 1st?
The defense (all of them ) looked like..uhm..hate to say it, but Wicky is right.
Wtf was Brashear doing on the ice defending against Patrick Marleau again? Whose bright decision was that?
I think the team got a bit arrogant. Which is good, because that will be a great ground for Torts to readjust their noses.
And lastly, this guy Joe Ebannati ( CCCP, don’t even think about it!) will only get better if someone puts a duct tape around his mouth.

Did people here think we were going 81-1 this year? Are you kidding me? 3 weeks ago people thought we were a fringe playoff team. What has changed? We went 7-1 in the first 8 and people were camping out for Canyon of Heroes seats? You don’t win the Cup in October.

Too many penalties and not enough physical play. Therein lies the problem. Oh and Vally had one of his worst games of his Ranger career.

People saying Gabby played badly? That’s a joke. You expect this guy to carry the team every night? It’ll be a long season if that is your thought.

Agree that too many D are now trying to be offensive guys. Girardi, Staal, Blowszival, and Redden should just think D first. And btw, Blowszival is our worst D-man. Bar none.

Avery had his worst game of the season. 2 horrendous O zone penalties just inexcusable.

Brashear and the 4th line (all -3 btw) had their worst game of the season. They got too much ice time. And Brash, if you are not going to fight someone after we give up 4 or 5 unsanwered goals, just get the F off the ice.

And when the hell are people going to take the body? Dany (Murderer) Heatley walks through the D, the puck stalls between his legs, puts his head down to see the puck, and no one lays him out? How is that possible?

We lack physicality. The bigger, faster teams are going to manhandle us unless we toughen up.

Generally though, lighten up fellas. We have still won 7 of 9. See who shows up on Thursday.

Puck, read the post again. I didn’t say Valiquette wasn’t or was a good backup. I’m saying he should be able to start against quality opponents if he’s a quality backup. If they didn’t think he could, then they need to get another backup. If anything I was defending the decision to start him against San Jose at home rather than in Toronto.

It was a tough loss last night especially when the team got off to a quick 2-0 start. I really hope this team can bounce back w/ a solid performance on Thursday night b/c you know the ranger critics are just waiting for a reason to jump all over them i.e. a certain espn analyst.

You know what guys ? This blowout loss was the best thing that could happen to the Rangers ! Seriously !!!!

Now they have seen, what is missing to be one of the top teams in the NHL..

The last two or three games they got away from their work ethic and now that was a good wakeup call that nothing works without hard work and determination…

First I was infuriated as well that Torts started Valliquette in goal but the more I think about the more I understand and agree what Carp said, that you need to bring one your backup in case when Henrik is injured and out for a couple of weeks and then you need to know, what your backup can do..

And then adding to the reason the Rangers still are not top level is the fact that when the first line with Gaborik, Dubinsky and Prospal not producing, neither of those of Drury, Higgins or Callahan are able to turn it on or able to make an real impact on the outcome…

Gaborik didn´t have a point in the game and the Rangers lost in the same game..That is no coincidence.. and otherwise I would really like to wish a real good stay at home defenseman in the Rangers lineup to avoid those stupid easy rebound goals, the Sharks scored a couple of times..

But as I said, it should be a good wakeup call for the entire team, and give Torts the chance to improve it…

Puck, I agree with you. Fans SHOULD know what Valli’s about. Could the King have started last night? Sure. I took Valli’s start and result as a lost battle to win the season’s war. If Valli posted another shutout last night, no one here would have complained (i hope).

Carp…
Not much to say about the game that hasn’t been said. We fell off that thoroughbred we were riding. Now let’s see how quickly we dust ourselves off and get back on that horse.

Regarding Versus, I couldn’t agree more. Forget about the announcers, I can always turn on the radio and watch the game. But watching the game on Versus in maddening! They constantly cut to unwanted and useless close-ups right in the middle of the action, making it harder to follow the play. The directors calling the game obviously aren’t fans or students of the game. In no other sport do you see cuts to close-ups in the middle of a play. Their graphics and in-game graphic promos also are poorly timed and badly placed on the bottom of the screen, blocking the view of what’s happening. I’d rather watch NBC and they’re not great either. The only reason I watch Versus is because I have no other choice. Versus needs to hire some producers and directors who have some experience other than sitcoms.

Rather than say we need a physical D-man, i just think our current guys need to play with more physicality. Guys the size of Staal, Girardi and some extent Redden and Roszival can all throw a good hard check and need to do it more often, and clearing the crease is all about not letting the guys get there in the first place by being in the right position. I’d put this one down as the occasional stinker you’ve got to expect when blooding so many new faces, young faces and a new system.

I think the penalties came out of a combination of being out-hustled and frustration and to win consistently you can’t let either happen.

And that is exactly the difference to a team like the Penguins, when the first line of Crosby, Guerin and Kunitz not able to turn the game around, then the second line with Malkin can do it any time of the game…

RICK have to disagree on starting the backup goalie against a top team with a winning streak on the line.But the coach decided differently. Not a big deal, but very questionable. Backup goalies are to be used against weaker opponents in the beginning of a season. Would you start him against the Playpens on nov 28 after the game on the 27 against Tampa? Those are back to back games, the decision right now is fairly easy if all is the same as today.

Thank goodness I have DirecTV and was saved from watching the dual disasters – the Rangers and Versus.

The Rangers need to play better hockey. Since Opening Night, the team has slowly gone down hill as they’ve played long stretches of wretched hockey. For instance, last week against the Kings, most of the second period was just not watchable (but since I paid for tickets, I had no choice). It hasn’t been entire games, just spurts where the defense goes away, they forget how to play in the neutral zone, they can’t hold onto or even pass the puck.

And then the wreck of last night against one of the best regular season teams in the NHL.

It is obvious that something needs to be done with the defensive corps. Here’s hoping that Torts shakes things up a bit.

Rick why didn’t he pull Valliquette? Would he leave Lundqvist in for 7 goals against after leading 2-0? All moot now, but the game was lost by the whole TEAM including the coach, just like the 7 wins in a row was won by all.

I agree with who ever mentioned how spoiled we are with Hank in net. He covers up our lack of physical play by absorbing the hits his d-men wont make. He makes at least two to three insane saves a game and generally gives up little to no rebounds and when he does it is purposely kicked to an area of the ice his d-men will get to first.

I think Vally is one of the better backup goalies in the league but he had a rough night as did everyone on the team. Brashear on the other hand needs to sit a game or two he is not throwing his body around and his fore-checking is a joke. I don’t expect him to fight when we are winning our games but yesterday he should have been hitting and trying to intimidate the other team. That is what he is getting paid for at least throw your body around man!

YES YES YES – that goffy play by play guy on Vs. I think he does Capital’s play-by-play? Anyway, YES he is positively awful. Like Mike Emrich without the pedigree. One cliche after another, so desperate to call attention to himself. No one scores a goal, they notch a tally. They don’t get a penalty or go to the box, they think about it in the sin bin. Like Emrich’s insipid “pitchforked!” and “cranked!” and “fistic arts” – it’s nonsense. And my God, that go ahead goal early in the second, you’d think it was an Olympic shootout or something. Buffoon! Give me Sam or nothing, frankly.

The only players who deserved anything last night were Lisin, Callahan, Avery (minus the stupid penalties, some of which I didn’t agree with), and Del Zotto. Everyone else played like crap. Vally wasn’t as bad as everyone I think made it out to be. The 1st and the 5th goal he should’ve stopped, but the defense didn’t help him or Henke out at all. All the goals were scored because of either odd man rushes or the defense getting beat in front of the crease.

Now that being said, Vally should’ve had better rebound control. That was the only part of his game I thought sucked. So those rebounds bouncing to Sharks players who had inside position on our d-men led to a ton of goals.

They were losing this game no matter what. I hope they bring the hard forecheck next game because they’ve been slacking off from it. They are just kind of gliding at most times through the neutral zone instead of stepping up…and the leader is probably the #1 guy doing it. Drury has been awful and I don’t care if he scored last night. He was one of the worst players out there (despite his +/-). He overskated the puck in the offensive zone because of his reaching with the stick and it led to a lot of turnovers the other way. He needs to get going or he needs to see some of the bench, same with Higgy bear (who I’ve defended for some time).

Contrary to some previous comments, Avery was actually one of the better forwards especially late in the game. He continued to be strong on the puck, skate hard, and create offensive plays. His first tripping penalty was BS as he was cross-checked and tripped into a guy who then fell. His second penalty was laziness and for that he should be accountable. Nonetheless, he was one of the few forwards who looked decently effective continuously through the game.

Gaborik wasn’t on the radar besides a SH chance on a beauty of a pass by Dubi, otherwise, he and nearly the rest of the skaters were invisble. Steven Valiquette was LITERALLY invisible as the puck went through him on seemingly every shot from within close range. That said, the defense should be shown about 9 hours of youtube’s “Greatest Hits” hilights today as they were all pathetic last night. I can’t remember one defensmen making a single body check, especially when the Sharks were within feet of the crease.

Also Torts didn’t call a timeout or pull the goalie because he was proving to the team what happens when they half-ass it. He said that was just a matter of time before it happened and it did, so he was making a statement. They’ll be back on track next game.

A lot of the garbage falls on all of the team (big portion on Valli, but nearly as much to the eye-sore called the “defensmen last night). Sometimes you just have to give the goalie a break and hope that his confidence isn’t completed shattered by the end of the game. If Valli has no confidence in himself, what’s the point of trying to use him again? I think it was a mercy pull by Torts and he did it between periods because Valli was bad but he wasn’t the root of the problem so he didn’t pull him mid-period.

Does anyone agree with me that right now the #1 problem is the relapse of the renney “breakout” system where the defense just throw the puck up the boards to the wings, as if to say “now it’s your problem and your fault if it doesn’t get cleared

this doesn’t work against ANY team now that they all play the trap…90% of the time a breakout up the middle works better…and they were doing that for the first 6 or so games of the season, but relapsed to the old “now it’s your problem” renney system of getting out of their zone, and it’s killing them

NO TEAM (literally, none) teaches breakouts up the middle because they may work better 5 to 6 times, but that 1 out of 7 times where it backfires, you setup a guy for a breakaway from somewhere near mid-circle. You may be right, but unless that d-man sees a 100% clear lane down center, they aren’t passing it through. The reprimand from Torts isn’t worth the risk (neither is the goal against).

i know that going up the middle isn’t always the best options…i’ve been playing hockey since i was 4

are you saying that throwing the puck up the boards to a winger that has both an opposing winger and a d man at the point is a better idea?

that’s all they are ever doing nowadays…they get pressured by 1 forward from the opposing team behind the net, and throw it up the boards to a winger covered by 2 opposing players…it’s the reason they get pinned down in their zone

Rob F – that’s not the problem. The problem is under Torts system, everything is kept out of your zone. Your defense is played in the other teams zone or the neutral zone. When you don’t skate hard for 20 minutes let alone 60, you leave the other team easy rushes from their end deep into your own zone, which the Sharks proved last night. So even against decent teams (I don’t think the Sharks are that great) that can make simple tape to tape passes, they can eat you alive if you don’t force them to one side and to make mistakes.

They had too easy of a time breaking out last night because of lack of pressure from the forwards, lazy line changes, and soft backchecking. The defense shouldn’t have had to clear the pucks from in front of the net because the puck shouldn’t have been allowed to travel so easily through the neutral zone.

Also Renney’s breakout system wasn’t the D-men’s fault, it was the forwards. They sat on the boards leaving no passing lanes what so ever for the d-men breaking out. But no use talking about that since its long gone.

the losss sucked, but it was only one!! If we have three or four like that then, problem. Like i’ve said since the lockout…our d has been way too eas to play against and soft!! It gets more apparent every year when we do not add a physical guy or two back there!

Have a great crease clearing hard hitting physicla d ma day everyone!!!

Rob F,
I also agree with Jonny and while I can’t speak for him, I will say this was one of the few games where the Rangers couldn’t get out of their own zone. I think, with practice, that will become familiar when the Rangers have some experience with the Torts system and against a team that does seem to close out the boards as passing options. TO me, I think that means you spread the opposing team thin by having your wingers press forward a little more, stretch the neutral zone, and then dish off to the center who will have to skate it nearly halfway up the ice. If the Sharks wingers determine then to release their coverage from the boards, then you have that open winger you didn’t see last night. If they don’t, a skilled center (Dubi/Prospal… etc…) carries it in himself.

I disagree. It was Brash*t that changed the game. Unless that came before the first goal, i don’t remember. Everything was going fine, until his retardation ruined that period, with a pathetic giveaway, then he added to it.

He’s such a wimp, it pisses me off. I noticed that this douchebag only challenged Shelley, when the guy was at the end of a shift. And when the game was 7-3, or 6-2, he tried fighting that Stupids guy, or what ever his name is.

Heavyweight champ !!! Now i know why he’s the heavyweight champ. This is how he works. Total cottage pussification, with extra olive oil, and month old lasagna.

Hi guys, In my humble opinion, playing the backup against the Sharks was a bad call. Vallie played terrible, but his D played worse. Most of the team played pretty bad. taking to many penaltys has gotten to be a big problem. Can any one tell me why Brashear is on the ice so much, he can’t skate well enough to check anyone, and the only way he can win puck battles is to take penaltys, so to avoid taking penaltys he lets his check go, so again why is he out there. I really think this team is a good bit better than last season, but Torts has his work cut out for him. There are only a handful of them playing with an edge. Somehow he has to get more of them or all of them playing with grit full time. They have the game they will improve. A couple of real good D men who don’t mind mixing it up, and dumping some guys on their rear ends wouldn’t hurt. Wishful thinking.

It’s not about having a backup plan, but just the fact is Torts system really lives and dies on the forecheck. Ideally if you are constantly pressing the other team before they get in your zone, you tire them out and they get less offensive possession and most times when they finally do get up ice, they go off for a change and you get an easy breakout.

When they do establish position, the first move is to reverse in your own end then push it hard up the boards with your center and wing streaking followed up potentially by your far d-man (if you get it out quick enough). This way you get an odd-man rush.

But the point of his whole system is to not let it get that far if it doesn’t have to and tire teams out so its easy to breakout of the zone. Last night it just didn’t happen because the team wasn’t pressing on the forecheck and while I don’t think the Sharks are that great, they are big and can outwork you.

If you noticed when Callahan and Avery were out there together, they created a ton of turnovers before the puck got out of the San Jose zone. That is how the system is supposed to be played for all 4 lines. Torts will have them back on track soon enough.

Orr – Shelley challenged Brashear in the 1st period, but he didn’t want to go because we were up 2-0 already. I agree he should’ve tried to stir something up in the 2nd, but A) he didn’t see much ice time and B) when he tried, Shelley and crew weren’t stupid enough to fall for it.

Plus his bad play was a miscommunication. He should’ve been back because he saw Girardi step up, however he thought he could turn the puck back the other way and it hopped off his stick. He definitely didn’t have a great game, but he wasn’t the only one.

Orr,
Oh, I agree that Brashear sucked. But so did most everyone else. Brashear wasn’t on the ice long enough to lose us the game. We need a heavyweight that can play. Simon or Laperrier(sp?) in their day. Even McCarthy could find the back of the net for us.

Brash can play, he’s got soft hands. He’s not the fastest guy, but he plays wing and is definitely faster than the guy he replaced.

I think everyone is trying to make too much about this loss, its just one game. The team needed this to show them they can’t get away from the system and just expect to win. It works against bottom feeders, but not against teams that will make the playoffs. If its a few weeks from now and they still don’t look like they did for the first couple games of the year, then get worried. For now I’m not going to make too much about a game that was just flat out bad.

I don’t think the decision to play Vally over Hank changed the outcome of that game. Hank also gave up 2 goals in 1 period (which is a GAA of 6, had he played the whole game). It’s not like he came in and shut down the Sharks, or made up for the 19 other guys’ horrible horrible skating either. It was just a bad game all around, from everyone.

Yeah man, when it rains it pours. I am not worried…..yet. But you could have been Stevie Wonder and you still would have seen this coming. I am glad that the score is what it was if we were going to lose the game. I hope they are embarrassed and angry. I hope Torts worked them hard at practice and made them watch a lot of tape. I hope we take out our anger on the Debbies on Thursday night.

Guys its a long season-there are going to be some off nights, we unfortunately were not going to win 81 games in a row…in this style that torts is playing if we are careless at the blue line or pinch in the offensive zone and the other team makes a one or two solid passes you are going to see odd man rushes and good scoring chances-we all know henrik probably makes some of the saves that vali didnt (Especially the first goal)…..lets give SanJose some credit and lets move on to thursday and LETS GO RANGERS

Carp you have to mention Tortorella somewhere, like a few mentioned, you cant start Valiquette against the Sharks when your last game you played two games ago was against the worst team in the league that has yet to get a win yet… especially when you’re on a 7 game winning streak, you want to ride that for as long as possible and what Tortorella did was not smart, i dont care if its only October.. Valiquette has never played a team in his NHL career with the talent & firepower the SJ Sharks have.. not to mention him getting the start vs SJ coming off a shutout vs anaheim and riding a 7 game winning streak is putting some pressure on him, he would have had a much better chance vs Toronto or even NJ..

And the comment about Lundqvist getting hurt for a week down the stretch while in the playoff race, well if that happened we wouldnt be DONE because I have confidence in Valiquette, but if that happened and we lost 3 straight games to good teams I woudlnt be surprised for the simple fact that Valiquette is a solid backup, and backup being the keyword, he is not a starter, and he is not a guy like lets say for example Craig Anderson last year or Clemmensen last year that could step in for an extended period of time, like a few weeks or longer, and be able to hold down the fort has a temporary starter, I just dont think he could handle that.. Lundqvist is our franchise player, him going down for us is like Luongo going down for Vancouver, it would simply be very hard to compete every night with someone else in net.. hopefully a year from now Chad Johnson will be reliable if anything happened to Lundqvist.. Im not saying Valiquette sucks bc I like him as our backup, just think we’d be in pretty bad shape if Hank got hurt badly

You haven’t seen the worst of it. i got a five minute match penalty for holding. Seriously.

The penalties are ridiculous, but they fixed a lot of the stupid glitches.

Actually there’s one glitch in the shootout mode. When you play as the goalie, the camera angle is from the other end of the ice, and you cant see what’s happening. It’s total BS, it happened a few times.

BTW – CCCP, and other league members. If you don’t have time for your match up in the tourney, then you can forfeit if you want to. Just let me know the team you want, before somebody takes them. So far the Hawks, & Sharks are taken. And Kovy is either the Wings or Flames.

Oh yeah, the roster update is a double edged sword. On one hand you get Del Z, and Gilroy, and other rookies, but on the other hand, anybody who is injured, you cant play with online. Marian Hossa is the biggest loss.

And soon, Lucic will be out of the game, since he’s done for 4-6 weeks.

If Lundquist were to get hurt, does any body here think Vali can do the job?
I do not, and feel a big upgrade is needed for the back up goalie. If the Rangers are going to try to play Hank less than normal because of the Olympics, They will need a better goalie.
Otherwise there will be more nights like last night.

Do we need a better backup goalie than Vali? Maybe. He gave up some goals he shouldn’t have missed. But the rest of the team can’t be excused, either. Several of the goals, as has already been said several times, were from people wide open in front of the net. Defense was non-existent last night. A little more defensive protection and crease clearing, and we might not have had to watch the Sharks run away with a four goal victory.

Sure, Vali takes some of the blame. But it’s far from only his fault. It’s not like Henrik came out and the scoring immediately stopped.

Where exactly do they get the money to pay for a better backup? If anything they should use a mid-round pick to develop one. The Ducks have had that luxurious problem twice in recent years when they had Bryzgalov and now Hiller outplaying Giguere.

If Lundqvist gets hurt then that completely changes expectations. I know the Devils were able to ride Brodeur’s absence into a pretty successful stretch but I doubt Torts turns this team into playing for small margins of victory so a world class goalie is needed to support the style of the team.

If Vali was a little better, he’d be a starter for some other team. He looked bad last night, with little help, but he’s not a bad goal tender. Brashier on the other hand might be the heavy weight champ, but he’s a pussy along the boards. As were most all Torts toilers last night

they talked on NHL on the fly about Vali and his style, and I agree with them. that deep-in-the-crease style works for Henrik, but he is unique, one of a kind.

Allaire likes to teach that style, but it does not work for Vali. Vali needs to get out to the top of the crease, cut off the angles, stand up more, and use his size to his advantage, rather than trying to be Henrik lite.

and I agree with Carp that if Vali cannot be trusted to play vs top teams, or if there is an injury, then they need another backup. Chad Johnson impressed me in the preseason, but I would like to see more of him in real NHL action before making a full judgment about him.

You pay your back up to be at .500 or just over. He’s done it over the years. Not all his fault. The team mailed it in after the 1st period. Including Torts. He knew Vali was shaky. Why didn’t he take him out after the first period? And what was the purpose of taking him out after 2nd? The game was over.

Wait so Vally shuts out the Ducks (who are considered just as good as the Sharks by many) and everyone starts talking about how great a backup he is. He has one bad game and everyone thinks he can’t cut it. I think some people need to chill out and not judge his skills based on one performance.

no, the question is, you don’t pay your backup to be shaky, so having to take him out after giving him a nice 2 goal lead tells us something about his dependability doesn’t it?
…………

Your comment is as though they lost 3-2 or even 4-2. They lost 7-3 and even Hank lost his “mini” game 2-1. Everyone was losers last night.

Valli isn’t historically as bad as he was last and it’s one bad game. If they lose 3 or 4 straight, then it’s a BIG problem. If Valli bombs his next 2 starts then you give Johnson a shot. I agree, lots of people bugging out over a game that Torterella expected to come sooner or later.

Couldn’t agree more with True Fans, especially if you look at Vally’s history. He’s had games like this before (Phoenix last year), and most of the time its not completely his fault and mostly has to do with the team in front of him. Not saying he should be up for the Vezina, but I’d be shocked if this happened to Vally anytime in the near future when he gets a start.

all players are judged game by game. that is why Rosival was benched that other game.

Torts says he wants Henrik to get more rest this season. fine. but how does that happen if he has to be put into a game he is supposed to be resting because the backup is too shaky to hold a 2 goal lead?

the whole point of resting Henrik more is moot if his backup is not able to keep him on the bench and give him that rest.

Jim, the backup wasn’t the only problem. If Hank starts that game they lose anyway. I’m not sure what your point is?

Obviously, Torts decided it was better for Vali’s confidence to NOT let him get shelled a third period. Vali needs to be good for this team because he will start 14-18 games. If Torts wanted to destroy the guy he would have let him start the third period, let SJ score another 2 or 3 and then pull him with 5 minutes left! Heck no! You wait for the intermission because Vali was bad, don’t get me wrong, but a Vezina winning goalie wasn’t going to do much to help the Rangers last night because they were all that bad.

Vali has to play in the future, why let his confidence be completely stripped away by letting him finish the game by letting even more goals in?

Was at game last night an what was glaring has been missing since Beukeboom. Nobody on the opposing team is remotely worried about being knocked on their a** when they camp in front of the net or take a run at Henrik or the putrid Vally. It’s high time that sleeping Slats address this matter
and stop drafting carbon-copy, poke check d-men.

I’m still peeved about the game being blocked out in Albany on Saturday. And since I was at the home opener, I didn’t even hear until just now that the freaking first game at the Garden was blocked out, too! Anyone else on here in the Albany/Utica area as upset as I am? There’s a lot of us. Enough that a petition was started and we’re looking for support. Even PuckDaddy and The New York Rangers Blog have been trying to help. Sign here: http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/sabres-off-of-msgnetwork.html

Last I checked, it was called MSG for a reason. No one’s going to stop backing an original 6 team just because they shove the Sabres down our throat. I hate the Devils and Islanders, but at least we all have cups. I’m 2 hours from NYC here in Alban and almost 5 from Buffalo. I just can’t wrap my head around this.

Sorry been out of commission bc I had my wisdom tooth yanked today. Yes I would have gladly had it yanked over watching that game again. I know Torts wanted his players to battle back, but honestly when you see your team struggling and then the opposing team take a 3-2 lead after they were down 2-0 its time to pull the goalie to wake the team up. There have been PLENTY of times we were ALL screaming last year at Renney do to it. Remember the 10-2 loss to Dallas? Remember the 6-5 loss to MTL?? You coach for the good of the team, you take a time out if you have to. What did he do during the Devils game? Its obviously effective and WHO’S to say it wouldnt have turned the game around last night???

Am I crazy or is it the vicodin Im taking? Last night I was checking our yahoo fantasy league stats & saw Lundvist had a final GA of 6.00. I asked someone in another league and said the stat was correct. How do they calculate this? Again if Im having a “blonde” moment I apologize… LOL

Amanda:
I’m in the Albany area too and do not appreciate Ranger games getting blocked out over Sabres games. I don’t understand the logic of them showing the Sabres over the Rangers when we are much closer to NYC! I will sign your petition. I hope something changes and we get to see more of our Rangers!

Every time they do it I sit on the phone with Time Warner for an hour and get the run around. In a nutshell, MSG, local service providers and the NHL all fail to communicate. Same deal with the poor people who have to deal with Versus and DirecTV. I’ve been getting a ton of feedback so I know theres a lot of us. If the Buffalo Mem. Aud. had a network and gave the Rangers seniority, I’d fully expect Sabres fans to be pissed off. I pay $160 a year for that stupid Center Ice package and it’s completely useless when MSG gives slots to Sabres and Devils games over Rangers as Time Warner expects it to be shown on MSG. Keep signing guys. Take 2 seconds, hell use a fake email. Lets just get enough names to make them realize we won’t soon be hanging up our blueshirts for a team whose logo looks like a slug.

wow that took a while to catch up. a lot of very good posts up there today.

We all know the last few games have had times (some of extended length, without the enzyte) of very lazy, lacksadaisacal, or boneheaded play, and last night was just the culmination of that. They got embarrassed, and I’m sure Torts let them hear about it. If the come out TOMORROW night, and it’s a continuation, then we have a problem. Hopefully last night was the ‘correction’ game, and they all get back to playing smart hockey and start HITTING PEOPLE!

haha, fanny. Thank goodness I wasn’t able to watch last night’s game. What a stinker! No need to get worked up about one terrible game; however, the team was a bit subpar in the games leading up to it. We’ve got the Devils coming up next, so let’s hit them on the rebound. Unfortunately, I will be missing the next two games, as well.

I haven’t been able to keep up with the comments so well recently, so pardon me if this was already posted, but the Canadiens had seven men on the ice with the goalie pulled against the Avalanche on Saturday, and they still couldn’t score!

Why are there no responses to hard checks on our players?
This demoralizes the team – worse than taking penalties. Avery was slammed twice in quick succession in 2nd period.
No reaction/ Chech them hard back. Or this was a time to start a fight to change momentum. I would also keep the players away from the media – listening to the analysts saying how great you are is dangerous.

Scott, it’s like they forgot HOW to check. And honestly, if Aves is in the box and if Cally or Dubi are not on the ice, who exactly is left to throw a check?? DINO??? Honestly, the guy ages more every game. I hope he just maybe had the flu or something but lately, he’s looked slow and sometimes out of place. Stop with the pokechecking and throw the body PLEASE!!

Puck ,You challenge anyone to disagree that Valley sucks…We here I am!! Ive watched every game the Ranger have played for the last (can’t count ’em) years and I know a crappy goalie when I see one. Valley sat all last year with the asumption he will be playing ( just to psyc himself ready)and when he jumps in we turn into every other team out there but worse. Vally is shaky and he sucks ,plain and simple. Every goalie has a bad game , with Valley it’s just bad playing. He is weak and if he plays more this year, we will lose and lose big. Hank lets in a softie and he get mad not flustered. With all the help Valley has had from the goalie coach ,you’d think he would be a starter by now. Valley opened up his fat mouth about Avery when Avery was shielding Brouduer and Vally said he would have punched out Avery or something. Same a Carey Price..bunch of idiot goalie who don’t know when to shut the hell up!!! Who ever says Valley is a good back-up ,talk to me about it, cuz I’ll tell you staight up,,,he’s a carrer minor league goalie, Yeah Avery was right! I like Valley’s size , I love it , I love his Mask , I wanna like him but he sucks. Ive watched him sit on the bench for years and I feel way better when he is back on his “bench” Hank is a real goalie where Valley need ice time in the minors.

Geez, every time Vali has a weak game we go through this. People need to realize that he is gonna have more bad games than Henke because he is not as good. But he does not suck, more often than not we’re praising him after games and killing D-men who didn’t help him.

It’s one game, I know it stunk and we expect a lot as Rangers fans but the sky isn’t falling yet. I’m glad they suffered a loss like this, it’ll build character and what doesn’t kill them makes them stronger. Even the 94 team lost some stinkers like to the expansion Ducks which led to the Patrick/Turcotte for Larmer trade.

I know some of those calls on Avery were BS but the guy gotta calm down with the Donald Duck reckless temper. He tries to sell things to the ref like he’s Ric Flair. It happens every dozen games with him or so.

Let Avery stay with Anisimov and Lisin, move Kotalik up with Drury and Cally, and let Higgins find his game with Boyle and Voros while Brashear takes a few nights off so he doesn’t try the Bobby Orr stuff anymore.

I have contacted Steve Zipay, Neil Best and Andrew Gross regarding the Upstate Ranger coverage. Zipay got back to me immediately and said he will mention the Sabres petition in his Blue Notes blog, im guessing tomorrow.

Puck Daddy on Yahoo! Sports and NY Rangers blog have both mentioned the petition today. There are nearly 70 signatures on there, with 50 of them from just today. Carp, anything you can do to bring this to some wider audience or attention? perhaps The Maven? or any of the guys over at MSG?

Utica and Albany are NOT Sabres markets. Theyre closer to NYC, they were shown the Rangers for 30 YEARS. You take away the locals team, expect an uproar.

tyty ddebened , yeah I was a little hard on Valley but has to make unbelievable saves to show he can compete. When he has a bad game , he quits competing and our score gets run up , then our players give up. With Hank in net , our player don’t give up and fight knowing thier goaltender will save everything posible and more. That make the whole team play better. When has Valley ever done that?

MAKO
October 20th, 2009 at 9:01 pm
See I knew I was having a blonde moment. I thought I was crazy… LOL at least I have an excuse Im on Vicodin LOL

Thanks guys.

hey mako- i always wondered why that was also, but i actually figured it out while playing nhl 08 or 09. i pulled my goalie(hank) put valley in, he got scored a few times in the 3rd and his gaa was at like 9 or 10!! also, if a goalie gets 2 scored for a full game, and gets the team to ot, his gaa will go down because of the 5 extra minutes if he makes it to the SO. so instead 2.00, it would be somethin like 1.95 or 1.99 im not sure but it did confuse me at first too.

Amanda
I went to college in albany (SUNY) and dreaded everytime the rangers/sabres had games the same time, especially when the sabers had home games. Ive called time warner, and they told me that if i got the cable box it would be differnt. It wasnt. Still blacked out to MSG-B. It may not seem logical but 99% of the people who i know that live in the area (grew up there) are ALL sabres fans, which may be the reason why the have MSG-B so far east and downstate (or perhaps MSG-B being in the area is the cause and not the effect). Either way it sucks, i know. Sad thing is i would look foward to VS or NHLnetwork games just because i knew i wouldnt watch the rangers pregame then all the suddent hear rick jeanerett’s loathful screams once it hit 7pm

I knew as soon as I saw their play in center ice ( totally outplayed from the outset) that it wasn’t going their way this night.

Vally is a pretty good goal tender but he does have very sluggish lateral movement in the crease, and as soon as the Oppos realize this…it won’t be pretty -and he does have some of the same problems with rebounds that LQ has.***

But where have they found this crew of refs this season? It
seems that each year they get worse.

Hey there! This is kind of off topic but I need some guidance from an established blog. Is it hard to set up your own blog? I’m not very techincal but I can figure things out pretty fast. I’m thinking about creating my own but I’m not sure where to start. Do you have any tips or suggestions? Appreciate it